Fiber-cleaning machine



Sept. 23 1924.

A. c. HEINY FIBER CLEANING MACHINE Original Filed May 22 1920 '7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept; 23 1924.

A. c. HEIINY FIBER CLEANING MACHINE Original Filed May 22. 1920 7 snee s-snet z Sept. 23 1924.

A. c. HEINY FIBER CLEANING MACHINE Original Filed May 22, 1920 '7 Sheets-Sheet 3 M u m QQ d x wfi v Q bN I NW N a N a IYIIW Nh wmw Q Q V n V NH NEH USN. a m Us 1920 7 Sheets-Sheet 4 A. C. H EINY Sept. 23 1924.

FIBER CLEANING momma Original Filed May 22,

A. C. HEINY FIBER CLEANING MACHINE Se t. 23 1924.

Original Filed May 22, 1920 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 Qwuentoc alfozncg Sept. 23 1924,

A. c. HEINY FIBER CLEANING- MACHINE .b Original Filed May 22, 1920 '7 Sheets-Sheet 6 7 w t l I I I I l l l l l M 9 w I}- B m .r N .J 1 t 56/ e V e m N M 7 0/ 0 2 w w M f Ym m M w E6 M Hm QM m m m m m B n I i f w Sept. 23 192%.

Patented Septe 23, 1924.

UNITED STATES ism- 54 PATENT OFFICE."

ANATOLE O. I'IEINY, OF WASHINGTON, DISTRICT 9F COLUMBIA.

FIBER-CLEANING LEIAGHINE.

Application filed May 22, 1920, Serial No. 383,510. Renewed February 9, 1924.

ToaZZ whom it may 00mm,-

Be it known that IVANATOLE- C. HmNY, a citize-n of the United States, residing at Wa'shington, District of Columbia, have invented certain new and useful Improve ments in Fiber-Cleaning Machines, of which the following is a specification. v

My invention relates to machines for treating long fiber plants, in order to cleanse the fibers of the matter associated therewith by nature that must be gotten rid of in order that they shall be marketable and suitable for use in commerce and the arts.

It has for its object toproduce a machine of this kind that will thoroughly separate and clean the fibers without breaking or injuring them and that possesses novel and important features which I will point out in the following specification and claims.

, In the accompanying drawings I have illustrated a machine embodying my invention especially adapted to treat tropical plants, such as the leaf stems of thebanana and abaca, pita floja, henequen or sisal and other grasses, and plants or parts of plants of which those just mentioned are typical. I shall assume the machine is intended particularly for treating abaca.

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the machine andFig. 2 is a top plan view thereoi,many of the details being omitted, owing to the small scale on which these views must be made, and the showing being largely diagrammatic. I

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of the feeding end of the machine;

Fig d is a longitudinal sectional view of the delivery end of the machine;

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view; I;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of one of the fiber clamps;

, Fig. 7 is and end view of one end 0*? a fiberclamp; v 1

r Fig. 8 is a transverse sectional view of one, of the fiber clamps;

Fig. 9 is a transverse sectional view illustrating the mechanism that controls the starting oi a fiber clamp on its course through the machine;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view on a larger scale tl1an Fig. 9-. and somewhatmore in detail, showing only the mechanism at one sideof the machine. V

Fig. 10 is a side view s iown in 9 Figs. 11,v l2, l3 and 14: are detail vieWS O f of the mechanism parts of the mechanism shownin Figs. 9, 9

and 10; g Fig. 15 is a top plan view of the delivery end of the machine;

Fig. 16 is a side elevation with parts broken away and in longitudinal section showing the upper portion of the delivery endof the machine; 7 Fig. 17 is a longitudinal sectional view of mechanism shown in Fig. 16;

r Fig. 18 is a transvers sectional view taken on the line 1818 of Fig. 16 showing one side only of the machine;

Fig. 19 is a transverse sectional view on theline l9-19 of Fig. 16 showing one side only of the machine;

g F 20 is a side elevation, largely diagrammatic, illustrating the machine, embodying my invention combined with a mobile support; and

Fig. 21 is a plan view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 20. 4 N i The machine illustrated in the drawings as embodying my invention is in itsv general features similar to that illustrated in Patent #1238510 to C. F. Logan, assignor to Fiber Products Corporation. Therefore many features that are fully describedin that patent and are hence known to thepublio need not herein be illustrated or described in detail. i,

Referring now to the drawings it will be seen that the frame of the machine is formed of sections 2 that are easily separable one from the other, so that the complete machine may be formed of a greater or less number oi" these as be required; and further facilitating the dissembling of the machine into small sectional units that. may

be easily shipped or'stored. A conveyor 8 substantially coextensive with the frame, directs the material being treated through the machine. It preferablyconsists of a pair of endless sprocket chains engaging with suitable supporting and driving wheels arranged to drive the chains in unison and to insure that corresponding links in the two chains shall be directly opposite to and inalignment with each other transversely. The conveyor is represented'as being driven from. a shaft 5 receiving power from any suitable source. ,7 1

Along the working run of the conveyor are located the severalmechanisms that treat and clean the fiber of which there may be more or less, as may be required by the nature of the material being operated upon. These fiber treating means are arranged in groups substantially as illustrated and fully described in the aforesaid Patent #1288310. Each group or set of fiber treating means contains at least two elements, one of which is positively rotated and serves as the active element that acts upon the material be ing treated, while the other element serves as a support for the material. Associated with the fiber treating means are driven rollers that operate to assist in feeding the material through the machine, so that the st "ain thereon required to advance it does not have to be applied entirely through the leading end thereof but is distributed along its length.

Referring to Figs. 1 and'Q which illustrate a typical machine, the first fiber treating set of devices, located at position I, may well consist of a supporting roller and an opposed positively driven cylinder carrying knives or skiving tools adapted to act upon the material for the purpose of removing therefrom a large portion of its cellular pnlpy substance without disturbing the valuable fibers. Inthe arrangement shown the skiving element is located below, and the supporting roller above the path of the material being treated. although this ar rangement might be reversed. At position II may be located devices for scutching the material. if this action be desirable. thesc consisting of a rotated lower scutching device and an opposing upper cylindrical support. Between the positions I and II ar. driving rollers such as have been referred to. The sets of fiber treating devices at positions III, IV, V and VI may be adapted to brush and comb the fibers removing from them the pulpy and other undesirable materiaLe sufficient number of sets of such cleaning devices being'employed to leave the fibers cleanand in condition for use after being properly dried. The active cleaning elements of these groups may be brushes with metallic bristles. Some of these brushes are disposed above the path along which the material travels. as indicated at positions III and V. while others may be below such path. as indicated at positions IV and VI. With each brush is associated an, opposing rotating cylinder that. serves as a support for the material while it is being brushed and cleaned.

Thecleanfibers at sections 7 and 8 of the machine are dried. being here subjected to currents of air which may if desired be heated. Arriving at position IX the fibers are supposed to be clean and dry and ready to pass out of the machine. Here the clamps employed to hold the fibrous material and connect it with the conveyor as will be later described. are released and separated from the fibers, and returned to the head of the machine. by means of a conveyor 4 to which they are. delivered through a chute 6, while the cleaned fibers pass to a conveyor 7 from which they are finally dis-- charged at the position X.

A simple arrangement for driving the several parts of the apparatus is diagrammatically represented in Figs. 1 and m where the directions in which the several parts move are indicated by arrows. The conveyor receives its power directly from the shaft 5 and is directed by guide wheels. as represented. crossed belt 8 transmits power from the shaft 5 to a shaft fl, tha! is connected by a belt 10. with a shaft of one of the active fiber-treating elements that is located above the path of the material. in the present instance the brush elcment of group III. This shaft through suitable gear wheels and belting 12 drives the other active cleaning: elements that are located above the path of the material. This insures that these cleaning clemcnts shall so rotate that their acting portions more in a direction the reverse of that followed by the material as it travels through the machine. Thc relations are such that the peripheral speeds of the fiber-clca11in; devices are greater than the speed of advance of the material. These speed ratios may be changed to suit conditions due lo the character of the material being treated. The fibcr treating devices located below the path of movement of the material are connected and driven through another train. including a belt '13 connecting the main shaft 5 with the shaft of one of the active libertreating elements. as for instance. that at position VI, and this. in turn is connected. through gearing and belts 16. with the other fiber-treating novices that are located below the path of the material. The bell l n as will be seen. is not crossed. so that it open ates to drive the rotating libcrdrealing devices which it drives in a direction against the forward movement of the material through thc machine. and its speed ratio is such that the. peripheral speed of each of these cleaning devices is greater than the speed of advance of the material.

The several sets of feed rollers 20 that cooperate with the main convcyn'n- 3 to advance the material through the machine are driven by belts 17. Those receive power from a shaft 13. driven from thc shaft 0 by crossed belt 19. Another shaft. 22. connected with the shaft 18 by a crossed belt 24. drives the return conveyor t directly. and the conveyor 7 through a crossed belt 25.

Mechanism is provided at the feed cud of the machine for timing the Connection of the fiber clamps with the conveyor 3. as will he later described and this is driven by crossed belt 27.

Till

lll l The driving gear arrangement described is typical and may be varied within a wide range as circumstances may require. That illustrated gives to the several rotating parts the proper direction of movement and the proper relative speeds.

With this somewhat general description of the machine I will proceed to set forth its features more in detail, referring particularly to the detail views of the drawings.

Each of the sprocket chains or the conveyor 3 is supported and directed by guides suitably arranged in the frame of the machine, and parallel with these guides, n'eterably outside thereof are rails 14 upon which run the clamps 32 employed to grasp the masses of fiber being cleaned and lead them through the machine. The sets of feed rollers 20 consist of the upper rollers 23 and the lower rollers But one of each pair of feed rollers need be positively driven, the other receiving its motion by friction from such driven roller, and l have represented the shafts of the lower feed rollers 35 as having secured to them sprocket wheels 39, Fl 13, that are engaged by the chains or driv ing belts 17, already referred to, for driving these elements of the machine. The fiber treating and cleaning groups of devices each comprise a rotating cylinder 36 and a rotating element 29 opposed thereto and serving as the active fiber cleaning nieinliier. This part 29 may be of one construction or an other, 'as the nature of the material being treated may demand, and as may be called "tor by its position in the machine. Thus the elements toward the head or feed end ot the machine may be cylindrical shivers, while those further advanced toward the delivery end of the machine are usually brushes arn'ied with metallic bristles. These features are shown and fully described in the atorc said Patent #1 25 3,310, and therefore a tull description and illustration oi them need not be here repeated. Suffice it to say that the shaft 11 of the cylinder 36 is connected by gearing 21 with a short shatt 26 carrying a sprocket wheel 28 that is adapted. to be driven by one ot the belts or chains 17, Fig. 5. The chains also are utilized to drive the feed rollers 20, Fig. 18. it will be understood that the fiber being cleaned'as it passes through the machine is carried between the elements of the several fiber cleaning groups, that is to say, between the active cleaning element 29 on the one hand, and the rotary cylinder 36 on the other, such cylinder acting as a bed or support that holds the fiber ma tcrial in proper position while being acted upon by the opposing elen'ient. As represented in Figs. 1. 2 and 3 the active fiber cleaning elements 29 are some of them located above the path of the fiber and some below such path, thus providing for the cleaning of the fiber from opposite sides,

The clamps for the leading ends of the fiber bearing masses to be treated i the machine, are designated, each as a whole, by and one of them is illustrated in detail in Figs. 6, 7 and 8. It consists of a cross bar or led piece of a length substantially equal to the width of the machine and pretrably grooved or torn'ied with a mellow channel in its upper face. This bar is pretterably connected with trucks the 30 of which run on the traelrs 14. l that the trucks 3'? should be separate from the cross bar 33 and united thereto by pivots 31 about which the trucks may turn to a limited extent for a. reason that will presently be explained. It clamping bar 33 cooperates with the cross bar 33 to hold the fiber nasses, it being arranged to COIZLG opposite to the recess or groove in the face of the cross bar and to force the material into such groove, thereby crimping it and giving to the clamp a secure grasp upon the material. The clamp bar is provided at its ends with arms 46 supported upon pivots 40 that project from. brackets 42 rising from: the cross bar 33. The arms 46 extend beyond the pivots 40 and are provided with contact projections 47. The upper-surfaces oi the truclc 37 are shaped to form lifting earns 50 whose functions will be later described. From the lower side of each truck 37 projects a finger 51, adapted to enter the open space oi one ot the links of the chain of the conveyor 3, and thus serving as a means by which the fiber clamp may be "freely connected with the conveyor. In using the clamp the end of a piece of fiber bearing material intended to be cleaned by the machine is placed upon the cross bar 33, and the clamp 38 brought down, forcing the material into the recess of the cross bar securely clan'iping the mate rial. A single piece of fiber material. or several of them, may be held in a single clamp. as the nature of the materia being trea ed uirrant its has been ed, the clamp is connected with the conveyor 3. and thus term porarily made a part of the cleaning apparatus, by having its lingers engage with the opposite chains of such conveyor, the trucks of the clamp meantime rotating upon the tracks 14. il'hile it is contemplated that the links of the two chains of the conveyor 3 at the opposite sides of the machine shall be in exact transverse alignment wit i each other, it sometimes happens that one chain has a slight lead over the other, n'ialting it dithcult for the fingers 51 of the clamp to be sin'inltaneously and properly engaged with links of the opposite chains. and when these lingers have been integral with the cross bars of the clamps, as has heretofore been the practice, much time has been lost in securing the proper engagement of the clamps with the coiilveyor chains that get out. 0t al1gninent,.ior, as is understood, the clamps are applied to the conveyor while it is in motion. It is for this reason that I malre the trucks separate from the cross bars of the clamp and unite them thereto by the pivots 31. The slight flexibility thus imparted to the clamp makes it possible to easily fit it o the moving conveyor whether the links in the opposite chains thereof be exactly opposite each other or slightly out of alignment. The clamp, being united with the conveyor, wil be thereby carried through the machine, leading the fiber material. with it, and in order that it may pass between the feed rollers 20, and between the revolving elements of the tiber treating groups, the shaft of each upper feed roller and of each upper element of a fiber treating group, is provided with some means arranged to be engaged by the lifting cams 50 of the clamp bars to 1....se such upper rotating parts sufficiently to permit the clamps to pass between such opposed rotating parts of the machine. Thus there are rollers 53, Fig. 18, with which the cams 50 engage or the shafts of the upper feed rollers 23, and loosely mounted segments 34., with which the cams engage, on the shafts of the upper members of the fiber treating groups. The segments 34 are preferred to complete disks or rollers as they are lighter, and, being freely supported they are main tained by gravity in proper position to be acted upon by the cams 5O whenever they pass. These features are set out in the aforesaid Patent #1238510. 7

After the fibers have been sufliciently cleaned, by the brushes and other active cleaning elements, they are dried before being delivered from the machine, and in Figs. 1 and a the drying is represented as taking place in sections of the machine designated. VII and VIII. Referring to these views 4-1,

' ell designate air boxes, connected by a conill duit 43 with a blast fan or othe air moving device not illustrated. Above the air boxes are slotted supports 44 over which the fibers pass. This form of support is typical of: any that may be used to properly hold the fibers While subject to the action of currents of air coming from the boxes 41.. This air may be heated and dried, if found desirable, before being delivered against the material. There maybe as many of these boxes as ma be required in order that the cleaned fibers when they leave themachine shall be sutliciently dry to permit them to be inspected and packed.

In the use of my invention the material to be treated, for instance, the sheaths of the stems of' abaca, are secured, preferably manually, in the clamps 32, and these are disposed in quantity at the head end of the machine, to which they are delivered by hand. I have provided automatic means to insure that the leading ends of one set of fibers shall follow closely after the rear end of the preceding set has passed into the ma chine, and will now describe such means, referring particularly to Figs. 1. 3, 9, 10, I1. 12, 13 and 14:.

45 represents a table at the feed end of the machine upon which clamps 32 carry ing the masses of material to be treated are pported just preparatory to their entering the machine. 57 are guides for the clamps, carried by the frame pieces 58 of the head section of the machine, and arranged to direst. the clamps, as they are pushed from the supporting table +15 and carry them into the desired proximity to the conveyor '3. Situated near the inner ends of the guides are supporting platforms 59 onto which the guides direct the fiber clamp, the wheels of the trucks 37 resting thereon while the clamp is in position waiting to be connected with the conveyor and to be started on its journey through the machine. There is one of these platforms at each side of the machine, and they are supported in transverse ways 60 in which they slide. Vhcn a. clamp is supported by the platform 59, as represented in Fig. 9, the fingers 51. of the clamp are held above the chains of the conveyor. which may therefore freely pass under the clamp without engaging therewith so long as it is thus supported. Whenever a clamp passes onto the platforms 59 the lifting cams 50 of the cam trucks pass under rollers 48 at the free ends of lovers 61. These levers are acted upon by springs 62 that hold the levers against the clamps with a force that tends to move them downward or toward the chains of the conveyor; but so long as they rest on the platforms engagement between the clamp and chain cannot take place. I have, however, devised means for intermittently and simultaneously withdrawing the platforms from beneath the opposite trucks 37, leaving the clamp unsupported, which is tllGIGUPOIJ instantly forced into engagement with the chains of the conveyor 3 by the spring-actuated arms 61. The mechanism for this purpose which I have devised and prefer to use is as follows. 419, 49 are bell cranks, one for each supporting platform Each bell crank has two arms, 63, 64-, the former connected with the platform, and the latter extending inwardly through the side frame piece 58 of the machine to a position to be acted upon by a cam 67. There are two of these cams 67, one at each side of the machine, and they are carried at the respective ends of a cone pulley 65 driven by the belt 27 referred to in discussing the driving gear arrangement shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The cam 67 is in the form of a ring carried by the cone pulley, at one of its ends. The face of the ring is, throughout about 270 of its circumference, concentric with the axis of the cone pulley, its remaining portion being cccentric with an abrupt drop at 69, as representee in Fig. roller 68 at the end of the arm 6% of the bell crank lever 49 engages with the cam 67, being held against such face by a spring 66. So long as the roller is in engagement with the high, that is, the concentric, portion of the cam the bell crank lever is held in position to maintain the platform 59 in the path of the truck of the clamp, the spring 66 being then under tension. But when the eccentric or low part of the cam comes opposite to the roller 68 the spring 66 moves the bell crank lever, carrying the platform outward and withdrawing'it from below the clamp, which is thereupon forced into engagement with the conveyor 3, by the levers 61. The two opposite platforms should be withdrawn from below the fiber clamp simultaneously to permit the fingers 51 at the opposite ends of the clamp to engage with both chains of theconveyor 3 at the same instant. To insure this I secure to each cam ring a contact piece 70, Figs; 11 and 12, adapted to set into a recess in the face of the cam 67 and'to extend across the drop 69. This contact piece is of hard metal so as to resist wear, and has a straight face 71. A second contact piece 72', also of hard metal, is carried by the arm 64calongside the roller 68, and in position to engage with the contact piece 70 of the cam. The arrangement of these two pieces, 70 and 72, is such that wien the straight edge of thecontact piece 72 comes to the end of the contact piece 70 it moves along the straight face 71 of the latter with a quick drop, insuring "the instant withdrawal of the platform from beneath the clamp. The cam thus terminates in an abrupt face 71 and these faces of the opposite cams can be brought into exact alignment with each other by: adjusting the cam rings 67, each as a whole, or-the contact pieces 70 with reference to their re-,

spective cams. The arms 63, 641- of the bell crank lever 49 might be integral; but 1 pre fer that they should be separate and connected by the pivot on which the levers as a whole turn, and also by a spring 73 that holds the two parts of the lever together so that under normal conditions it acts as though of unitary construction. If, however, it should happen that an obstruction were in the path of a platform 59 at the time the high part of the cam engages a roller 68 of the bell crank lever the two-part construction of the lever described would permit the arm 64: to move, without a corresponding movement of the arm 63, the spring 73 yielding to permit this, see dotted lines, Fig. 9 so there would be no breakage of parts or straining of machinery. As soon as the obstruction just supposed has been removed the parts will be restored to normal relationship The spring 73 is strong, as

compared with spring 66, insuring that the lever shall act as a unit under normal'condit-ions.

F or economy in operation it is desirable that the material being treated should be sorted sothat that which is being treated at any one run of the machine should be of approximately the same length. It is therefore graded with this end in View preparatory to the starting of. the machine, and this permits the use, to advantage, of, the means for automatically starting the clamps. through the machine, which has just been described. By shifting the belt 27 upon the cone pulley 65 the speed of rotation of the cam 67, with reference to the movements of the other parts of the machine, may be varied, and this adjustment is utilized when the length of the material being treated is changed. F or instance, if the machine were set for treating masses of fiber of an average length of twelve feet, the pulley 65 would make a revolution at each twelve feet, and a little more, of linear movement of the conveyor 3, so that no sooner had the rear or following end of a mass of material passed into the machine than the clamp carrying the next mass of material to be treated would be started. on its course through the machine. If now it should be desired to treat material-ofa different length,

say eight feet, the-belt 27 would beshifted upon the pulley 65' so as tocause' one. 1'05 tatior thereof each time the conveyor. movedeightfeet, and a little more, itibeing understood from the foregoing description that at each revolution ofthe pulley 65" a clamp is started through the machine;

After the fibers have been cleaned, and dried, when the machine is provided with a drying attachment as shown the fibers are automatically separated fromthe clamps and delivered from the machine, the clamps being either dropped or automatically returned to the head of the machine for use again. The mechanism for effecting this release of the cleaned fiber from the clamps is illustrated in Figs. 4, 15, 16, 17, 18'and19; 'At the delivery end of the machine, section IX, Fig. 4:, is a pair of feed rollers 52. The lower of these is concentric with the sprocket wheels engaged by the chains of the conveyor 3 where they turn from their horizontal or working run to. a vertical or downward course. It is just after this turn of the conveyor that the feed clamps are released. To efiectthis the side frame pieces 54 at the rear of the machine carry guideways 55 that, at their forward ends, join the rear ends of the tracks 14, and constitute ways-along which run the rollers ,of" the clamp trucks 37. These guideways 55 (iiverge from the path of the conveyor 3, so

that the clamps are gradually separated therefrom, although they are still being posr .of Figs. 18 and 19.

tively moved forwardly for a certain distan ce before final separation takes place.

Inorder to release the ends of the fiber material from the clamp I mount wheels 77 upon the shaft of the upper roller 52, these wheels taking the place of the loose rollers 53and the segments 34-, heretofore described. Like the parts just referred to the wheels77are situated in the paths of the lifting cams on the trucks of the fiber clamps in order that they shall operate to lift the upper roller 52 sufficiently to permit the clamps to pass between these feed rollers withoutinterference. The wheels 77 are extra wide however, compared with the rollers or wheels 53, so that they not only lie in the paths of the cam 50 but also of the angular extensions 47 of the arms 4&6 of the movable bars 88 of the clamps. These ex: tens ons pass the rollers or wheels and the segments 34 without engaging therewith,

because of thei s-cation and of the narrowness of the latter, but they engage with the Wheels 77, as is apparent from a comparison The engagement between the contact extensions L7 and the wheels 77 automaticallv opens the clamp, releasing the fiber ends. -As soon as the clamp fully escapes from the conveyor 3,

having then passed into the steep downwardly inclined portion of the guideway 55, rapidly moves forward and downward, under the action of gravity, separating from the fibers and passing into the chute 6 that delivers it to the returning conveyor :t by which it is taken back to the head end of the machine. Meanwhile the fibers, now separated from the clamp, are directed to the cor veyor 7 by which they are delivered from the machine where they may be removed by hand or by automatic "machinery, as may be desired.

In order to direct the leading ends of the fibers to the conveyor 7 I have devised the following mechanism: 79. designates a plate, of about the same width as the feed rollers 52, hinged along its edge close to the face of the lower of the said rollers. Springs 78 act on this plate and hold it free, that is, rear, edge raised, as represented in Fig. 17, and in proximity to the receiving end of the conveyor 7. It thus constitutes a bridge between the final pair of feed rollers 52 and the conveyor 7 that operates to direct the fibers and support them as they pass from the cleaning machine to the delivery conveyor. The plate 79 lies in the path of the fiber holding parts of the clamps 82 as they are directed by the guideways 55, and such clamp parts, engaging with the plate depress it as they pass. WVhile the plate is thus depressed the fibers lie upon its upper surface; but when the plate is restored to its normal position, by the springs 78, the fibers are carried thereby into position to be engaged by the delivery conveyor. A chain 74, or other equivalent flexible stop, serves to limit the extent to which the plate 7 may move up wardly.

It is very desirable that a machine such has been described shall be mobile, capable of moving to the location where the material to be treated grows, and of easily moving from place to place in said growing locality. In Figs. 20 and 21 I have illustrated the cleaning machine as being supported upon a suitable structure frame 80 provided with a pair of caterpillar tractor devices 81 by which the machine may be moved from place to place over soft ground as well as upon substantial roadways; and these views are largely diagrammatic and represent an installation of three cleaning machines, such as have been described, arranged side by side and designated respectively w, z, in Fig. 21. A suitable motor 82 is supported upon a platform on the structure frame and this is connected to a train of gearing 83 with the traction devices, and through another train of gearing 8% to the cleaning machines. By means of suitable clutches 85 and 86 the application of power from the motor to either the traction device for propelling the apparatus, or to the cleaning machines for operating them, may be controlled. The motor may be of suitable construction, and the trains of gearing likewise of any suitable kind, and I have therefore indicated these parts diagran'nnatically. It will be understood that other forms of tractor devices than a caterpillar structure may be employed.

The operation of the machine described will be understood from the foregoing description. Several improvements which I have made and herein described produce a machine that is superior to any of which I have knowledge, in that among other things it is more nearly automatic and is devised so as to operate to the full capacity of the machine and reduces to a minimum the requirements for manual co-operation.

lVhat I claim is 1. In a machine for cleaning plant fibers, the combination with means for feeding the material through the machine and cleaning devices acting thereon during transit, of means for automatically starting throu h the machine the separate masses to )e cleaned, and variable timing means arranged to operate the said starting mechanism with reference to the speed of the feeding devices.

2. In a machine for cleaning plant fibers, the combination with means for feeding the material through the machine, and cleaning devices acting thereon during transit, of means for automatically starting through the machine the separate masses of material to be cleaned, timed to operate with reference to the speed of the feed devices, and

fill

lllil .leading ends of the fiber masses to be cleaned, a conveyor with which the clamps are made to engage for carrying them through the machine, and means for cleaning the material during transit, of intermittently acting means for causing automatic engagement of successive clamps with the said conveyor and means to vary the frequency of the operationof the said intermittently acting means With reference to the speed of the conveyor.

4 In a machine for cleaning plant fibers, thev combination with a conveyor and fiber cleaning devices, of clamps separate from the conveyor but adaptedto be engaged therewith and moved thereby, means for preventing engagement of the clamps with theconveyor, and means for operating the said preventing means and causing engagement of the clamps With the conveyor at regular intervals.

5. The combination stated in claim a and including variable timing means by which the frequency of the operation of the said preventing means to permit the engagement of the clamp with the conveyor, may be varied.

6. The combination stated in claim 4 including a guide for the clamps to direct them into co-operative engagement with the said preventing means.

7 In a machine for cleaning plant fibers, the combination with clamps for holding the leading ends of the fiber masses to be cleaned, a conveyor with which the clamps are made to engage for. carrying them through the machine, and means for cleaning the material during transit, of means for holding a clamp in position adjacent to, but free from, the conveyor, and means for releasing the clamp from such holding means and causing it to engage with the conveyor.

8. In a machine for cleaning plant fibers, the combination with clamps for holding'the leading ends of the fiber masses to be cleaned, a conveyor with which the clamps are made to engage for carrying them through the machine, and means for cleaning the material during transit, of means for holding a clamp in position adjacent to, but free from, the conveyor, automatic means for re leasing the clamp from such holding means and causing it to engage with the conveyor, and means timed with reference to the speed of the conveyor For operating the automatic means. a

9. In a machine for cleaning plant fibers, the combination with clamps for holding the leading ends of the fiber masses to be cleaned, a conveyor with which the clamps are made to engage for carrying them tinmachine, and means for cleanir Y 7 terial during transit, of means tor holding a clamp in position adjacent to, but free from, the conveyor, means for releasing the clamp from such holding means and causing it to engage with the convm or, means for operating the said relcasi mechanism timed with reference to thespeed o? the conveyor, and means for varying the timing 0:" the said releasing mechauis it). In a machine for cleaning plant fibers, the combination with clamps for holding the leading ends of the fiber masses to be cleaned, a conveyor with which die clamps are made to engage for carrying them through the machine, and means for cleaning the material during transit, oi? a support tor holding the clamp in position adjacent to but tree from the conveyor, and means for withdrawing the support leaving the clamp unsupported and tree to engage with the conveyor.

11. In a machine for cleaning pant fibers, the combination with clamps for holding the leading ends of the fiber masses, a conveyor comprising parallel chains. with which the clamps engage and bywhich they are carried through the machine, and means for cleaning the material during transit, of platforms at the opposite sides of the machine upon which a clamp may rest, serving to hold it adjacent to, but free from the conveyor, and means for simultaneously moving the platforms to release the clamp and per mit it to engage with the chains of the con veyor.

12. A combination such as stated in claim 10 wherein the means for operating the platforms are bell crank levers operated by cams.

13. A combination such as stated in claim 12 in which the bell crank levers are divided and held together by a relatively strong spring that insures that the lever shall under normal conditions act as a unitary structure but may yield upon failure of the parts to function properly.

14-. In a machine for cleaning plant fibers, the combination with clamps tor holding the leading ends of the fiber masses, a conveyor with which the clamps are made to engage for carrying them through the machine, and means for cleaning the material during transit, of means for automatically releasing the fibers from the clamps atter the cleaning operation arranged to act on the clamps to release them while in transit by the convevor.

15. In a machine for cleaning plant fibers, the combination with clamps for holding the leading ends of the fiber masses, a conveyor with Which the clamps are made to engage for carrying them through the machine, and means for cleaning the material during transit, of means for automatically separating the clamps from the conveyor after the fibers have been cleaned, comprising guide- Ways engaged by the clan'ips diverging from the path of the conveyor.

16. Mechanism such as described in claim 15, in which the gnideways incline in downward direction so that the clamps on being separated from the conveyor continue to move along the guideways by gravity.

17. In a machine for cleaning plant fibers, the combination With clamps for holding the leading ends of fiber masses, chains with which the clamps are made to engage, mean s for directing the chains through the machine definite paths and means for cleaning the fibers, of means for causing the clan while still being moved forward by t e chains to gradually diverge from the path followed by the chains and hence separate therefronm 18. In a machine for cleaning plant ti -sews. the combination With clamps for holdhg; the leading ends of the fiber masses, a conveyor With Which the clamps are made to engage for carrying them through the machine,

and means for cleaning the material during; transit, of means tor automatically releasing the fibers .i'froin the cnnnps after the torn 2e! have been cleaned. and means for antomali cally separating the clamps from the eon Veyor after the fibers have hen released.

19. The combination stated in claim 15 ineluding conveying means for directing the released clamps back toward the head end of the machine.

20. The combination stated in claim H including a conveyor tor directing away from the cleaning machine the cleaned fibers after being released from the clamps 21. The combination stated in elaiin 20. including a bridging means between the cleaning machine and the conveyor that leads away the cleaned tihers.

22. The combination stated in claim 21 in which the said bridging means are spring held in normal position to direct the fiber. and are adapted to yield to permit the clamps to separate "from the fibers and then return to normal position.

ANATOLE C. HEINY. 

